The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-05-11
POPULAR SCIENCE.

It has been discovered in Prussia that
many mine explosions, attributed to fire.
damp, are caused by the presence of fine
coal dust in the mines.
The recent experiments of an Italian
physicist hnve shown that gases cannot
be forced through glass by any available
mechanical, chemical or electrical means.
Even pressure of 1890 pounds on the
square inch had no effect.
Two thousand one hundred and twenty.
eight feet per second was the initial
velocity of the 1SO0-pound projectile
fired twice with 1000 pounds of powder
from the new 10O-ton gun intended fol
the British ship Ben Bow.
In honor of the Queens jubilee year,
the Balloon Society of Great Britain has
offered its medal and one hundred
guineas for a discovery rendering elec.
tricity economical for heat, light, chemi-
cal action, motive power, or treatment OF
disease.
A gun larger even than any of the
monsters hitherto produced is now under
construction by Krupp. 1t is ffty-twc
and onc-half feet long, and weighs 315,.
900 pounds, although only fifteen and
three quarter inches in bore. Its lightest
projectiles will weigh 1852 pounds, and
will be propnlled by 1,O7O pounds Of
prismatic brown powder.
NJ. Frenzy has read paper at the French
Academy of Sciences describing the sue.
cessful researches made by him, with NJ.
Yerneuil's assistance, for obtaining arti
fetal rubies. By letting alumina dissolve
in fuoride of calcium he obtained crys.
tails of alumina-that is to say, perfect
rubies, defying the closest scrutiny, and
even high he: in value than natural stones.
They can b, made of large size.
Those who are in the habit of indulg.
ing in raw onions, says medical man,
may be consoled for the social disadvan-
tages which ensue by the fact that
onions are about the best nervine known.
No medicine is really so efficacious in
cases of nervous prostration and they
tone up a worn-out system in o very
short time, Their absorbent powers.a are
also most valuable, especially in times Of
epidemic.
The Medical Record quotes DR.. Mac
kenzic as being of the opinion that Ameri-
can catarrhs are largely due to the dust,
and says that it is not unreasonable to
believe that the tremendous clouds of un-
sterilized earth which are driven into the
faces of our city's population during this
season have something to do with the ex-
cess of coughs and colds and the high
mortality rate during this period, which
in some years is exceeded only in the hot
months of summer.
The statement has been made to one of
the scientific societies of Paris that the
effect of gravitation in heaping up sea
waters upon the land is one of the most
interesting, though least considered,
geological facts. Thus, the continents
are all situated at the tops of hills of
water, and in crossing the Atlantic, the
ship has first to go down hill, then to
cross valley, and finally to climb an
other hill. In this connection, the inter-
esting calculation has been made that,
in mid-ocean, the surface may be more
than half mile below the lcVel IL WOulu
have been had continents exerted no at
traction.
DR.. Chapman, in the Medical and
Surgical Reporter, says that nine-tcnths
of wild animals in confinement are SUBJ
ject to heart disease, although all animals
have their pcculiarities. The elephants
are heirs to many diseases, but the most
common and fatal is rheumatism. Mon
keys and balloons generally die from
bronchial affections and heart disease /;
felines, such as lions, tigers, leopards,
etc., from dysentery ard heart disease
deer, antelopes, etc., suffer most from
dysentery and heart disease; while the
canine tribe, such as wolves, dingoes,
and foxes, don't seem to be subject to
any disease.